Eau d'Italie - Sienne l'Hiver

Sienne l'Hiver is one of those perfumes I've read a bit about, but felt very much on the fence as whether to order a sample or not. Reviews have been fairly polarising - it seems like people either love it or hate it. I therefore ordered a sample expecting either to be wowed, or revolted. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised.The notes include violet leaf, geranium, black olive, white truffle,...

And the winner is....

Cymbaline - congratulations. As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, the winner has been chosen randomly by a willing member of my household. As there were only four commenters, you each stood a 25% chance, which are pretty good odds.Cymbaline, if you email me your name and postal details, I shall wing some selective samples to you.&nb...

Autumn colds and smartphones

Not much posting from me this week I'm afraid. I've come down with one of those early autumn colds, passed on no doubt by my wonderful children, who have the sniffles too. With a bunged up nose and no sense of smell I've decided to give my olfactory senses a break for a few days.My most exciting bit of news is that I got a new mobile phone this week, a smartphone HTC Wildfire. It's pretty cool I think....

100th post musings, a tribute to Ambre Sultan and Vetiver Extraordinaire and a giveaway

Ok, so this is my 100th post. In a way I am almost surprised that I got here. When I first started blogging back in March this year I started with some trepidation. My main stumbling block was the nagging thought of how self-indulgent blogging can be, and I think I actually made mention of this in my 1st post. Thinking of where I am now, I still think my perfume musings are somewhat self-indulgent,...

Mark Buxton - Around Midnight

This is the first perfume I've tried from Mark Buxton's eponymous line. I'm relatively familiar with some of his other work, most notably for Comme des Garcon, Le Labo and Van Cleef & Arpels. The notes for Around Midnight include pepper, geranium, camomile, jasmine, styrax, patchouli, cistus and cedarwood. I must admit, the opening of Around Midnight left me feeling quite disappointed. It opens...

Parfumerie Generale - L'eau Guerriere

Parfumerie Generale is a line that seldom fails to move me in some way. I haven't fallen in love with every single one I've tried, but each has at least made some sort of impression on me. I can honestly say that none I've tried has been generic or smelled like anything else out there, which is saying a lot in this saturated market. L'eau Guerriere means 'warrior water' apparently and the notes...

London and the Roja Dove Haute Perfumerie

Last Friday I spent a day in London, mainly visiting and browsing a number of perfume 'shops', for want of a better word. This was a little treat to myself. Usually I only get up to London these days for work-related courses, squeezing in a hurried half-an-hour or so to pop into Liberty to spray on a few fragrances. As I was on holiday last week, I left the family behind (selfish, I know) and treated...

Anniversary reminiscence

Tomorrow (9 September) my wife and I (who else?) celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. The traditional anniversary gift for this year is tin, and although I did contemplate a tin of baked beans as a present, sense prevailed, as did the thought of trying to make it through the next ten years.... In some ways it seems literally like yesterday that I found myself on the verge of getting married. I...

Mazzolari by Mazzolari

So far I have only sampled two perfumes from the Mazzolari line, Lui and the one I'm reviewing today, Mazzolari. I have to say, I'm not disappointed thus far. I think this is a very good perfume house. Lui for example, is an excellent, potent patchouli fragrance with an animalic twist to die for, in my opinion. Lovers of patchouli could do far worse than try it. The notes for Mazzolari include citrus,...

Honore des Pres - Love Coco and I Love les Carottes

Some of you may have read my post a couple of months ago on Vamp a NY, a tuberose-based fragrance by the organic perfume line Honore des Pres. I was in my local Space.NK today and noticed that they carry the entire line, including the latest three. Incidentally, Space.NK actually carries quite a nice line of fragrances, including Diptyque, Kiehls, Tom Ford, Acqua di Parma, Sisley and I understand...

Domenico Caraceni 1913

Domenico Caraceni 1913 is one of those perfumes that appears to have a relatively subdued, yet almost cult-like following, yet receives very little review time. I'd been toying with the idea of purchasing a sample for some time, as the reviews, such as they are, were generally very positive and I liked the notes. This is an eau de toilette and the notes include petitgrain, styrax, geranium bourbon,...

Atelier Cologne - Orange Sanguine & Bois Blonds

I recently received two samples from the Atelier Cologne line, Orange Sanguine and Bois Blonds. The notes for Orange Sanguine include blood orange, bitter orange, jasmine, geranium, amber woods, sandalwood and tonka beans. The opening and heart of Orange Sanguine and pure and uplifting, as realistic orange notes as you are likely to find. I find the smell was like the whole grove - fruit, leaves and...